Long time lurker, first time poster to the sub. I've been doing some research and need someone who is versed in the history of England from the point of view of the Norman invasion of Byzantium. I'm specifically looking for information on families who may have been descended from Norman/Byzantine marriages that were part of the nobility of England. I have no idea where to start with this other than Helena, the daughter of Robert Guiscard and her marriage to Constantine VII. I'd like to know if they had descendants who moved back to England, or if there were other marriages like this involved in the nobility/royalty of England.
Edit: Wikipedia has a section on the ancestry of the current royal family that connects back to an Isaac II Angelos., but this appears to be of the wrong time period if looking at the Guiscard family. I've also found English coats of arms that bear the red crescent. According to most sources, this indicates a descent from Constantine. I'm still looking for perhaps a concise academic source.
Thanks!
I'm specifically looking for information on families who may have been descended from Norman/Byzantine marriages that were part of the nobility of England.
Have you found evidence of Norman families of Sicily migrating back to Normandy or into England? I'd be surprised because the place to be for military adventurers in the 12th century was the Mediterranean. Anyone who moved back would likely not have had the rank or prestige for a marriage to a Byzantine princess, which was rare at that time.
I have no idea where to start with this other than Helena, the daughter of Robert Guiscard and her marriage to Constantine VII.
You have this a little scrambled. Guiscard's daughter was only betrothed to Constantine Doukas (not VII), the toddler son of Michael VII Doukas. Michael VII was deposed before the marriage happened and the engagement was broken off. Robert Guiscard used this as a casus belli to invade the empire and restore a false-Michael VII on the throne (he failed). No descendants resulted.
I've also found English coats of arms that bear the red crescent. According to most sources, this indicates a descent from Constantine.
I don't know much about heraldry, but provable decent from Constantine is impossible. Constantine's sons thoroughly murdered off their relatives after his death, and the death of Julian "the Apostate" and Constantius II's childless daughter marked the end of the dynasty as far as I know.
Wikipedia has a section on the ancestry of the current royal family that connects back to an Isaac II Angelos
If you link it, I can verify if it's correct or not. That's entirely possible, though Isaac II reigned at the end of the 12th century so it may indeed be out of the timeframe you're interested in.
What? Normans who moved back to England? The Normans who Helena was descended from arrived in Italy before William the Conqueror invaded England.